Electronic – Buffer op amp amplifier saturation

amplifieranalogbufferoperational-amplifiersaturation

I have designed a buffer amplifier using an LM358 op-amp, with an input of a 1kHz sine wave and a power supply of +/-6V. whenever I increase the input sine amplitude above a certain threshold, I get a weird output (unlike the normal saturation that we all expect such as the one in Figure 1).

Expected behaviour for saturation

Figure 1 (Above). Normal saturation.

Unexpected behaviour for saturation

Figure 2 (Above). Weird unexpected saturation.

Why is the saturation in Figure 2 like that? I am used to Figure 1's output but not Figure 2. I guess it's linked to the -+ 6 Volt supply, but I'm really lost.

I've tried looking online for similar waveforms, but I found nothing.

Best Answer

The "weird" output looks like "phase reversal", which can occur in some op amps when the input common mode range is exceeded:

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Source: https://www.analog.com/media/en/training-seminars/tutorials/MT-036.pdf

The TI datasheet for the LM358 indicates that the input common mode range has a maximum of 1.5V below the positive power supply voltage, i.e. 4.5V in your case. As pointed out in this thread on TI's E2E forum, the LM358 is susceptible to phase reversal.

The LM358 model in your simulation is evidently accurate enough to model this phase reversal behavior, but in general you need to keep your op amp within its specified limits (input common mode range here) in order for the simulation to reliably model reality (and you need to keep a real op amp within its specified limits anyway).